in her resignation letter to president obama, mrs. clinton thanked him for his friendship and the opportunity to serve. jill dougherty is joining us from the state department. a pretty tumultuous reception upon her departure? >> reporter: yes, it was quite some day. she was right here in this hall about two hours ago after an emotional farewell to her staff. on her last afternoon as secretary of state, an emotional farewell to the state department staff hillary clinton led for four years. >> i will miss you, i will probably be dialing ops just to talk. i will wonder what you all are doing because i know that because of your efforts day after day, we are making a real difference. >> but early friday morning, even before she left her house, reports of a suicide bombing outside the u.s. embassy in turkey. clinton was briefed by her staff, then was driven to the state department where she called the u.s. ambassador to turkey and the turkish foreign minister. at the same time, senator john kerry, the man who within hours would succeed pres